The Best Game

In their semifinal win over Roseville, the Cardinals and the Raiders played to a 0-0 tie in the first period.  The Raiders had three power play opportunities but couldn’t beat the Cardinal’s penalty kill.  The Alex penalty killers worked hard and knew how to skate seconds off the penalty time.  As the first period ended, the Roseville strategy was clear; they matched one of their best players, Nik Norman, to one of Alex’s top players, Ben Doherty trying to deny Doherty the puck or the scoring opportunity.

The second period was just a good period of peewee hockey.  Both teams had great scoring attempts.  Alexandria hit the pipes on four shots just missing scoring four times.  The Roseville defense played well and were just quick enough to deny that the Cardinals the good shot by getting their stick on the puck or getting in the Cardinals’ passing lanes just enough to alter or slow down the play.  Roseville’s goalie Kyle Roy had a good game and an excellent second period in the Raider’s net coming up with big saves when the Cardinal forwards slipped by his defensemen.

The Din and Exhaustion at Game’s end

At the four minute mark of the second period, the Raider’s scored off a melee in front of the Cardinal’s net to take a 1-0 lead into the third period.  The third period became intense.  Hockey is a game where the stronger teams tend to do best late in the game.  The stronger team’s players manage to keep their focus under the loud and raucous din of the crowd at the end of an exciting game when physical exhaustion starts to set in.  Alex kept their focus amid all the excitement and won.

Halfway through the third period, Doherty and Caleb Strong broke into the Raider’s zone on a 2-on-1 rush with Doherty carrying the puck.  He moved to the inside down the left slot drawing the lone Raider defender to him and set up Strong breaking low left.  Stong scored on a quick one timer putting the puck in the net behind the Raider’s goal Roy.

Roseville had kept one of their best players fronting and chasing Ben Doherty throughout the game.  With the game tied 1-1, the pressure on the Raider defense ratched up as the Cardinal attack became fiercer.  The chasers were tiring and were often late to the play.  With 43 seconds to go, the Raiders were called for a penalty.  Ten seconds later, with Doherty on the power play making a move to net along the left boards in the Roseville zone he was taken down by the sliding Raider chaser trying to track him.  The second penalty created a 5-on-3 with 24 seconds left in the game and the face off to the left of the Raider’s goal.

Alex never surrendered control of the puck after that penalty.  They won the face off and Jack Westlund ended up scoring from the left end line bouncing the puck off the Roseville goalie.  The game winner was scored with 12 seconds left on the clock and ended the scoring Alex-2 Roseville-1.  It was the best game of the tourney.

The Championship

Alexander went on to beat the Minneapolis Storm in the championship game Sunday afternoon 2-1.  The two teams were evenly matched.  Alex took a 1-0 lead after the first period on a score by Jack Westlund.  Westlund scored halfway through the second period to put the Cardinals up 2-0.

After Westlund’s second goal in the second period, the refs stepped.  After one single fracas, the refs sent four Alexander players to the penalty box, one for charging, one for roughing, one for slashing , and one for "misconduct" (10 minutes).  The Cardinals’ defense survived the penalties shutting the Storm power play down.  The second period ended with Alex leading 2-0.

The Storm’s Sean Patton scored six minutes into the third period, but the Storm couldn’t get the tying goal.  Alex won 2-1 and won the Blaze Championship Trophy.  The Storm is a top rated AA team bound to be selected to a regional tourney and could end up in the State Peewee AA tourney.  But Alex is also a good team and despite being a peewee A team, are certainly among the best peewee teams in the state.

The Soapbox

What the coaches and fans are slowly realizing is that the peewee A split to AA/A has little meaning.  The split was intended to create a State Peewee AA tourney of the top teams.  That is not happening.  The peewee AA/A split instead has done the opposite for one simple reason.  It sets up a division of top teams into a State peewee AA tourney vesus the less talented teams into a State peewee A tourney before a single season game is played.  As a result, a team like Alexandria that a month ago no one outside of “Cardinal-Ville” thought would be among the best teams in the state, is playing at level of the best teams in the state.  And the Cardinals most likely will be playing in the State Peewee A Tourney in March, not the AA tourney.

The Cardinals are not alone as top team playing peewee A.  The scary thing is that earlier this season, Alexandria lost 2-1 to Virginia A team.  If the Virginia A team is anywhere near the same team that played in the Hoyt Lakes Hall of Fame tourney, they are a clone of Alexandria and another team headed to play in the State Peewee A tourney.  And there are other peewee A teams that are just good this year.  The powers to be may get their top team tourney wish this March, only it will be played in Crookston.  But that is not so bad, is it?